"We have as a society opposed it, the faculty has opposed it and the Board of Governors has opposed it," Chairman of IIM-A Board of Governor A M Naik told newsmen.

Though the motive behind Deputy Commissioner of Police Sanjay Banerjee taking the extreme step is being ascertained, police suspect that he was facing some domestic issues in recent months.        

"The proposal to bring new Lokayukta Aayog bill by the Modi government aims at suppressing scams in the state, and is a tactic to delay the Lokayukta's appointment," GPP Vice President Suresh Mehta told reporters.

KVP, who appeared before the investigating agency in the morning, was asked about some of the government orders issued during Rajasekhara Reddy's regime and also about investments made by some companies in Jagan Reddy's firms, CBI sources said.

"The ministry of home affairs strongly supports the proposal of special courts so that expeditious trial is possible. I am also of the view that arresting and keeping innocent persons in custody knowingly is indeed a serious offence and the government is committed to ensuring strong action against the officers responsible in all such cases. You have my assurance that this will happen," Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde said on Friday in a letter to Minority Affairs Minister K Rahman Khan.

Addressing the National Editors's Conference, Khan said the reservation for backward Muslims was a promise made by the Congress in its election manifesto.

"The BJP will decide who will be its candidate for the prime ministerial post. The VHP will not make public comments on the subject," Togadia told reporters.

The BCCI is monitoring the situation and is also in touch with the state government. A final decision is expected to be taken soon.

"We have about 550 million youths under 25 years of age and considering this, we also need to create 15 million jobs annually," Pitroda said at a FICCI event on next generation entrepreneurs.

"If the NC is serious about its opposition to Afzal Guru's execution, what stopped it from withdrawing support to the UPA," asked the chairman of the moderate faction of the Hurriyat Conference.        

"What stopped Omar from recalling Farooq Abdullah from the (Union) Cabinet," asked Mirwaiz.

The agency said the nature and extent of the crime shows the vast network and larger conspiracy behind it.        

On March 18,the Karnataka high court had granted bail to Naveen Sooringe on a surety bond of Rs five lakh, but imposed no other conditions.     

Sooringe's arrest after the attack, carried out in an act of moral policing, had triggered a controversy, with journalist and rights bodies condemning it, claiming he had been falsely implicated when he had actually tried to help the attack victims. They had been demanding his release.

"According to a CAG report, Gujarat has made maximum progress in fighting malnutrition in the last five years," Modi said.

The chief minister took up the matter with Shinde over the phone as the latter was away in Maharashtra with President Pranab Mukherjee.

"We will announce the list of at least 220 candidates within March 31," senior JD-S leader Basavaraj Horatti told reporters.        

This is the first time a Pope has met his predecessor. 

Pope Benedict is the first pontiff to resign from his post in the last 700 years.

A press statement issued by the website stated, "The manner in which the RBI deputy governor has rushed to issue the statement, even before the Central Bank could complete the inquest it has initiated into money laundering practices by the three banks, even before these banks could complete their own investigations into the alleged misdemeanour of their officials, and even before the Income Tax Department could come up with its own finding, is tantamount to be self-serving and is a brazen attempt on the part of the Deputy Governor to not only give these banks a clean chit but also mask the miserable failure of the banking regulatory mechanism of the RBI. One gets the impression that the RBI deputy governor has taken upon himself to become the spokesperson of the three banks concerned".

Expressing his support for Dutt on his Facebook post, Mohanlal wrote that his colleague and friend Sanjay had been a reformed citizen over the last 20 years.  

"Dutt is a good citizen, a loving family man and a person who has braved adversities to come out stronger and better," Mohanlal said.

Asked about the CBI raid on DMK leader M K Stalin's residence immediately after the party withdrew its support to the UPA government, Hazare told reporters, "Everybody knows that the CBI is under government's control. If it is brought under the Lokpal's control, it would help in curbing corruption." 

Hazare alleged that Congress had always "misused" the agency, even though it has some good officers in its fold. "It is not that all people with the CBI are bad. But they are subjected to pressure as they have their jobs to protect. Congress has always misused it," he alleged.

Giving this information, police officials said here today that links of the arrested youths with leaders of the banned Student Islamic Movement of India were being probed.

Those arrested were Azharuddin, Naeem, Kaleem, Afroz and Kaleemuddin, all aged between 20 and 25.

A total of 126 crude bombs, two country-made revolvers, 10 rounds of cartridges and one sword was seized from their possession along with some literature, police said.

The youths were held on the basis of intelligence inputs that they were manufacturing and testing bombs at a barren field in Seoni.

Addressing the National Editors Conference here, he said with liberalisation of FDI and other measures, the government has travelled considerable distance on the road to fiscal consolidation and reforms.

In further liberalisation of norms for investment by Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) in government securities and corporate bonds, he said norms have been rationalised.

"President Zardari is no more the co-chairman of the PPP. The main body of the PPP has been dissolved and his son, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, has been elected the party's patron-in-chief," a close aide to 57-year-old Zardari told PTI.

Earlier, Bilawal, 24, was the chairman of the PPP. The decision was made to off-set pressure from the Lahore High Court, which had asked Zardari to act on its suggestion that he should quit his post in th

Raja's bungalow in New Delhi has become the central location for the DMK MPs to gather, and the outcome is six resolutions, which will be read out to Karunanidhi on Saturday in Chennai, and will be kept ready for Monday's meeting.

This shows how Raja has gone much closer to the DMK leadership. It is claimed that Raja gave points to Karunanidhi to prepare a press statement about the DMK's withdrawal from the UPA.

This gesture was aimed at to remove ill feelings. Alagiri was accompanied by party colleagues Napolean and KV Ramalingam.

Raja is openly meeting BJP leaders in the central hall, and does not seem to be bothered about the voting pattern.

A source said that Raja assured the BJP that it is his mission to bring the DMK closer to the NDA after LS polls. Raja is confident that DMK will win 20 seats in Tamil Nadu

The trigger point is the Sri Lankan Tamil genocide and that Congress President Sonia Gandhi or Vice President Rahul Gandhi did not speak a word about Tamil Nadu in Parliament.

Vasan had a two rounds of meetings with the district secretaries of TNCC on whether to launch the Tamil Maanila Congress in 2013 or 2015. The ADMK is eager to pave way for Vasan to float TMC a new political force in Tamil Nadu.

He is confident to get eight Lok Sabha and one Rajya Sabha seat for the TMC. 

A case was filed against Salman Khan, Saif Ali Khan, Tabu, Neelam and Sonali Bendre in 1998 for having allegedly shot blackbucks in a village near Jodhpur during the shooting of their film Hum Saath Saath Hain.

Tabu, Saif, Neelam and Sonali Bendre appeared in the court, but Salman was not.

"According to US intelligence and diplomatic officials, the secret agreement for the Chashma 3 reactor was signed in Beijing during the visit by a delegation from the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission from February 15 to 18," The Washington Free Beacon reported.

The agreement calls for the state-run China National Nuclear Corporation to construct a 1,000-megawatt power plant at Chashma, where two earlier Chinese reactors were built, the American website said.

"We can confirm that a Norwegian citizen has been abducted in Egypt," Svein Michelsen, a spokesman for the Norwegian foreign ministry, said in a statement.

The ministry has mobilized the necessary resources to handle the situation, said Michelsen.When they were travelling in a car between the two tourist destinations -- Nuweiba and Dahab, the Norwegian woman and an Israeli Arab man was stopped by a group of gunmen suspected to armed Bedouin tribesmen, said the Norwegian-language newspaper Aftenposten, quoting newspapers reports from Egypt and Isarel.

The national elections last month produced no clear winner, but President Giorgio Napolitano said the 61-year-old Bersani was best positioned to create a government given "the most difficult circumstances" -- a reference that the political leader has a comfortable majority in the lower house, but that the Senate is split. 

The vote made plain voters' disenchantment with mainstream parties and largely divided over which forces should lead Italy at this delicate moment.

The tornado wrecked havoc in Brahmanbaria district over a 15-minute period, authorities said, uprooting thousands of trees and flattened hundreds of tin and mud-built houses in the area, and snapping road and rail communication with affected villages.

Mr. Mikati's resignation came as a result of a disagreement with the cabinet over extending the mandate of the Internal Security Forces Chief Maj. Gen. Ashraf Rifi.

"The initial appearance of Bosco Ntaganda before Pre-Trial Chamber II of the ICC is scheduled for Tuesday, 26 March 2013 at 11:00 am (1000 GMT)," it said in a statement. Wanted since 2006 by the ICC, Ntaganda today flew out of Kigali bound for the Netherlands, where the ICC, the world's first permanent court to try the world's worst crimes, is based.

The commission took note of the decision of the Italian authorities to send back to India the two marines, Massimilian Latorre and Salvatore Girone, but "we have no details of the arrangement", a spokesman said. 

UN leader Ban Ki-Moon also condemned the new "atrocity" in Syria."The Security Council condemned in the strongest terms the terrorist attack in a mosque in Damascus," the statement said. At least 49 people, including a senior pro-government cleric, were killed in Thursday's blast.

The council expressed "deep sympathy and sincere condolences to the families of the victims of this heinous act and to the people of Syria."The 15-member council has been bitterly divided over the two-year conflict. Russia has sought to shield President Bashar al-Assad, while the United States, Britain and France have given increasing support to opposition rebels.

Obama, standing side by side with Jordan's King Abdullah II, said the international community must work together to ensure there is a credible opposition ready to step into the breach.